Santa's Little Helper

Sydney has been asking the question that many parents have heard over the years “How does Santa know if we are being good or naughty?” Steve had been responding with the simple answer “magic.” When that didn’t satisfy her unending desire to know more, he told her about the special elves that Santa has hiding all around. They watch the children and report back to Santa.

To Sydney’s surprise, Santa came by our house yesterday to drop off a special package! It was a book called “The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition” (http://www.elfontheshelf.com/). We sat down with the kids and read them the story. It told us about Santa’s scout elves that stay in your house. First you have to name the elf, then he will receive his Christmas magic. He will stay in your house and be Santa’s eyes and ears. Each night, when you go to bed, the elf will fly back to the North Pole and give Santa the scoop on how the kids are behaving. In the morning, the elf will fly back and be in a new spot in the house. There is only one rule, you cannot touch the elf or he may lose his Christmas magic. The elf will stay in your house until Christmas Eve when he will fly back to the North Pole to stay until the next Christmas season.

After hearing the story of the scout elf, I told Sydney that an elf was already in our house watching and that she should go find him so we could name him. Sydney said that we should team up to look for him. She picked her daddy for her team. Steve and Sydney found him first. (Halas was certain we would find him in the dog food.)

The elf was on our mantle. They named him Fred. Fred watched the kids all night. Sydney swears that he moved a couple of times. When she woke up this morning she was already asking where Fred was. I told her we could go look for him after she got dressed for school.

Side note (has nothing to do with the elf…I’m just venting here) - this had to cut about 15 minutes off of the time it usually takes her to put her uniform on. Seriously, what takes her so long to get dressed? It’s not like she even has to pick out an outfit. How long will this process take when she is a teenager?

Back to my elf story – We found Fred this morning hanging out on the TV. I would love to be a fly on the wall when he starts telling Santa what goes on in our house.

Potty Training

I am already emotionally scarred from when we had to potty train Sydney. When Sydney was 2, her daycare decided to have a "panty week" where all of the children would wear underwear through-out the day. They said that everyone would be potty trained by the end of the week. All the parents had to do was bring in back up clothes. [in case I can ever go back and talk to a younger version of me...Warning to 2-year old Sydney's mommy - this is too easy to work.]

Day 1 of Panty Week: Sydney has an accident in the morning. They change her clothes.
Positive: Sydney has no more accidents for the day.
Negative: Sydney stops peeing all together.

Day 2 of Panty Week: Sydney still has not went potty.
Positive: No accidents!
Negative: This can't be healthy.
Mommy calls the doctor. The doctor says to go to the ER if there is no progress by the afternoon. Any guesses where we were in the afternoon? That's right, the Children's ER.

After we had to pin a two year old down for them to put a catheter in her, I will not look at potty training the same again.

I wasn’t even there when Sydney officially became potty trained. I was on travel for work and gone a week and Steve had her potty trained by the time I got back.

[Note to 2-year old Sydney's mommy - let Daddy handle potty training.]

A couple of months ago Halas was grabbing his junk after bath time and I asked him if he wanted to go pee-pee on the potty. He said yes and ran into his bathroom, sat on his potty, and let it go. Of course, the seat was still on his toilet so it was going on the floor. Sydney ran in because she wanted to see him pee in the potty and started freaking out since it was getting everywhere. I told her to relax (I didn’t want to scar him this early...I was getting ER flashbacks) and that it would just be a little pee we could clean up with a towel when he was done. What I didn’t know is that he apparently has a bladder the size of Steve’s and there was more than just a “little bit” to clean up. Still, I was happy that he went in there on his own accord.

To prevent the same occurrence, I took the lid off of his potty. Sure enough, a couple of days later after his bath time he was grabbing his junk again. He ran into his bathroom, looked at his potty without the lid, and in a panicked voice said “Nooooo.” He hung his head, and while still holding himself, went over and got a diaper for me to put on him.

Now I could just put the lid on the toilet but that seems to defeat the purpose. So, we are going to wait for while before we start potty training. I don't think anyone in this house is ready yet.

Sydney's Mass

Each week, the Kindergarteners – 8th graders have an all-school mass on Friday. Sydney’s kindergarten class was in charge of the school mass this week. Her class did all of the readings, led the songs, brought up the gifts, etc.

Today was also the day that her school was celebrating Grandparents’ day. All grandparents of children from each grade were invited to come to mass, have breakfast, and then participate in other classroom activities for the rest of the day.

I got to the church about 15 minutes early to get a good seat. It was a good thing I was there early because by the time I got there the church was almost full. Also, they had a special area for the Kindergarten parents since their kids were leading the mass. By the time mass started, I didn’t see one open seat. Here is a picture of Sydney when she saw that I was there.


This had to be one of the cutest masses I have ever been at. They broke up the readings between the kids so there wouldn’t be too much for one child to have to read. To see each of those kids go up to the podium, climb on the stool to reach the microphone, and read in their little voices was so adorable. They even had some children go up to a microphone and lead the songs. Some kids you couldn’t hear with the microphone and some looked like they were ready for Broadway!

Sydney had been working on her lines this week. She was very proud when she told me last night that her teacher told her “You don’t have to practice anymore. You are great!”

Here is a quick clip of her doing the reading today. Her lines were:

“The Rosary is a living prayer, because as we recite the Our Father’s, Hail Mary’s, and Glory Be’s we meditate on the mysteries in the lives of Jesus and Mary.”

Great job Syd!

First Day of School

Sydney has officially started Kindergarten! So far she likes her new school pretty well. She is still adjusting to having to sit at a desk for most of the day but so far that has been her only complaint. She likes her teacher and is making new friends. Unfortunately none of the kids she went to pre-school with are at her new school. It doesn’t seemed to have phased her though.

On her first day of school we got to walk her into her class and she was fine when we left. After school she went over to the after school program that the school has. When I went to pick her up that afternoon she was pretty upset and about to cry. I asked her why she was upset and she told me that it was because I was there to get her. She wanted to stay longer. I suppose that is a good problem to have. After that we started dropping her off in the car line and she walked herself into the school. I think that was harder on me than the first day.

Halas is still adjusting to dropping Sydney off and being in the car without her for a while. When she first gets out of the car we have to sing the “Sydney’s coming back” song. Then he calms down and starts counting, and talking, and singing to himself for the rest of the ride. I guess it isn’t too often that he gets to hear his own voice when Sydney is riding with him.

We got to go up to Illinois for Aunt Lori’s wedding a couple of weeks ago. Sydney was the flower girl and Halas was a ring bearer. It is my opinion that they did perfect at their jobs. Sydney took her job very (very, very) seriously. She was taking the whole day in and I’m pretty sure that she already has ideas for her own wedding. 20-some more years of planning and Daddy is going to have quite a bill on his hands. Halas made it down the aisle with his pillow in hand and was very well behaved during the ceremony. You can’t really ask for more from a 1 and a half year old. My mom and sister took some pictures so I will post some when I get them (hint hint Mom and Tiffany).

We wish that we could have stayed longer while we were up there and get some more family time in. Now that Sydney has a real school schedule that is going to be more difficult. I did get to see a lot of Steve’s family from both in-town and out-of-town at the wedding. Halas got some good play time in with his cousins. I have a feeling that he was soaking in what two-year olds can do (x3). Monkey see, monkey do. We even got Sydney, Halas, and the triplets in the pool for some good summer time fun before we left. [If I was taking pictures like my sister was, I would insert a shot of all five of them together right here…]

Ang

Swim class

Here is a short clip of Sydney at swim class. I think all of the pratice she got during her Illinois vacation paid off.

Now that she knows that my phone has a video camera too, she has decided to start sending out personalized messages. Here is one she sent to her Grandma the other day.

Halas on the slide

Here are a couple of videos of Halas on the slide the other day...

Usually he isn't so slow about it...

Sydney is on her way home from her summer vacation to Illinois as I type. We are very excited to see her again and she is even bringing Papa B, Aunt Denna, and Cousin Mattie!

Summer trip in Illinois

Sydney is up in Illinois visiting family right now. Here are some pictures my mom sent of her enjoying the Arts Festival this week.

Checking out the clowns.

Getting a butterfly balloon made.

Making a clay pot.

Making a worry doll.

Here she is working on a mural.

It certainly looks like she is having a great time!

What would you say?

To my 5 year old, I don’t know what to say half the time. She can ask questions at a rate of about 20 per minute. I try not to make up stories to explain things to her. Partially this is because I am not creative enough. I also don’t have a good enough memory to keep up with what I may have said before. Mostly, I have learned that there are always follow up questions.

Sure, it seems easy to tell your child not to talk to strangers. Does this look familiar to anyone else?

Mommy – You should not talk to strangers.

Child – Do you mean all strangers? What if the lady ringing up the groceries says hi to you?

Mommy – OK, you don’t want to be rude. [So here come more rules] You can talk to people if you are with an adult.

Child – Why can’t I talk to all strangers?

Mommy – Because not all people are nice and Mommy doesn’t always know who the bad people are.

Child – Why are some people bad?

Mommy – That is a great question. I don’t really know. [I honestly thought the conversation would end here.]

Child – Does the devil make them bad?

Mommy – [This looks like a good out, I’m going for it.] Yes, the devil makes people bad.

Child – What does the devil look like? Where does he live? Why does God let the Devil make people bad…

…20 minutes later…

Mommy – [mind is numb] Yes, the flowers and the dirt keep the devil in hell.

What? Where did that come from? I have no clue. She beat me down and we finally arrived at wherever we were driving.

Other questions have come up too that seem like they could have simple answers. Trust me, there is no simple answer. If someone thinks I am wrong, I will happily have her call you so that you can explain:

1. How much candy can you eat until your belly explodes?
2. Where does the baby come out?
3. How does the plane stay in the air?
4. Why is your hair brown?

If you can keep your talk to less than 5 minutes, I need lessons!

Conversly, to my 1 year old, I have no problem coming up with something to say. It is usually short, to the point, and at an elevated noise level. In the not too distant past I said all of the following in the same day:

Don’t play in the toilet!
The dog is not a lollipop!
Don’t put that in your diaper! (I suppose that is better than telling him not to take something out of his diaper.)
Don’t pour sand in your sister’s hair!

Good times!

School Pictures

The kids had their pictures taken at day care and they turned out great! Just look how adorable they are!

Sydney's Trike-A-Thon

Last week, Sydney participated in a St. Jude Trike-A-Thon at daycare.

Doesn't she look so grown up on her bike!

Concentration... Competitiveness... Cute!

She's older too?

Sydney is 5 years old now. I know what you are saying…”What?!” “ How can that be?” “Didn’t she just come home from the hospital?” Oh…that’s what I was saying!

Everyone keeps telling me at work to enjoy my kids while they are this young. This is the age where their mom and dad are the center of their universe. I am trying to heed their advise. We are soaking it in. [Although I will note that I am sure my children will never grow tired of Mommy and Daddy giving them hugs and kisses as everyone says they will.]

We carpool every morning to work/daycare. In the 20 minute drive I am positive that Sydney says the word “Mom” at least 143 times. Sometimes the conversation will go like this:

Sydney: “Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom”
Me: “What?!”
Sydney: “So how is your day today?”
Me: “Fine, thank you.”
Sydney: “So what did you do today?”
Me: “Sydney, you know what I’ve done. I got ready for work and got you guys ready for school.”

Sydney: “Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom”
Me: “Yes?!”
Sydney: “I love you!”
Me: [heart melting] “I love you too!”

Did you notice how many times Steve spoke up in that conversation? Yep, I don’t know how he does it.

Better yet, Sydney has taught Halas to play the “mom, mom” game. He is like a little echo :)

Sydney will start Kindergarten in the fall. I am not ready!

His first Birthday!

Yep, Halas is 1 year old already. We got to celebrate his birthday up in Illinois with family. Here are a couple of pictures of our Baby Bear to hold you over while I work up a longer blog update…